Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

drama ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

The Nevers ''The Nevers'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Doug Petrie, Jane Es ...

'' and held leading roles in ''

Poldark ''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice ...

'' and ''

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

''. His film appearances include ''

The Danish Girl ''The Danish Girl'' is a novel by American writer David Ebershoff, published in 2000 by the Viking Press in the United States and Allen & Unwin in Australia. Summary The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, one of the fi ...

'', '' The Iron Lady'', ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...

'' and '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. In 2017, he joined the main cast of

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

'', portraying the antagonist Herr Klaus Helmut Starr. He also provided his voice to Lofty Thaddeus Worthington in the 2005 film '' Valiant''.

Early life and education

Son of Rev. Robert Harrington Torrens, MA, and descendant of the lawyer and colonial official

Henry Whitelock Torrens Henry Whitelock Torrens (20 May 1806 – 16 August 1852), son of Major-General Henry Torrens, was born on 20 May 1806. He received his B.A. at Christ Church, Oxford (where he was a president of the United Debating Society), and entered the Inner T ...

, Torrens was born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and educated at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school of the British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 km) from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshir ...

. He studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

(BA 1981, MA 1987), and subsequently studied acting at

Drama Studio London Drama Studio London (DSL) is a British drama school in London. It is accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools. The Drama Studio London was founded in 1966 by actor and director Peter Layton, focusses on developing individual talent nurture ...

Career

Torrens's television appearances include ''

Consenting Adults In criminal law, consent may be used as an excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring liability for what was done. Defences against criminal liability A defence against criminal liability may arise when a defendant can argue that, becaus ...

'', two episodes of ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'', two episodes of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' ("

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"/"

The Family of Blood "The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 June 2007. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul C ...

"), ''

The Brittas Empire ''The Brittas Empire'' is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie played titular character Gordon Brittas, the well-intended but hugely incompetent manager of the fictional Whitbury New T ...

'', ''

Green Wing ''Green Wing'' is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show '' Smack the Pony'' – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and stars Mark H ...

'', ''

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

'', ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pl ...

'' (as

John Scarlett Sir John McLeod Scarlett (born 18 August 1948) is a British senior intelligence officer. He was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2004 to 2009. Prior to this appointment, he had chaired the Joint Intelligence Commit ...

), ''The Last Detective'' and DI Spencer for a few episodes in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' in 2001. He has also appeared in a 2008 series of British television advertisements for

First Direct First Direct (styled first direct) is a telephone and internet based retail bank division of HSBC Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, England, and has 1.45 million customers. It was awarded Most T ...

, with Matthew King. He appeared also in a 1992 episode of ''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

'' with Michael Gambon. In 2011, Torrens appeared in both episodes of an '' Outnumbered'' two-part special. In 2012 he appeared in the first episode of

series 8 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

of '' Hustle'' as Heinz Zimmermann and also presented new gameshow ''

The Devil's Dinner Party ''The Devil's Dinner Party'' is a British Reality television, reality game show hosted by Pip Torrens. It aired on Sky Atlantic from 23 November 2011 to 4 April 2012. Premise According to a piece in The Times newspaper, The Devil's Dinner Party ...

''. Torrens briefly appeared in an episode of '' Death in Paradise'' in 2013, as a museum guide. His film appearances include ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

'' as the captain of the fictional ''HMS Bedford'', the 2001 film ''

To End All Wars ''To End All Wars'' is a 2001 war film starring Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland and Sakae Kimura and was directed by David L. Cunningham. The film is based on ''Through the Valley of the Kwai'', an autobiography of Scottish captain Ernest Gor ...

'' and voicework for '' Valiant''. In 2013, Torrens appeared in "

The Waldo Moment "The Waldo Moment" is the third episode in the second series of the British science fiction anthology television series ''Black Mirror''. It was written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by Bryn Higgins, and first air ...

", an episode of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

''. In November 2014, Torrens played the part of Richard Grenville in the BBC Radio 4 drama ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...

''. In 2017 he began a starring role on American television series ''

'', on which he appeared in 33 episodes as Herr Klaus Helmut Starr.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

*
Pip Torrens profile
bfi.org; accessed 19 April 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrens, Pip 1960 births Living people People from Bromley Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from Kent 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors People educated at Bloxham School